Book Talk with Richard Hite, In the Shadow of Salem: The Andover Witch Hunt of 1692

Based on extensive primary source research, In the Shadow of Salem: The Andover Witch Hunt of 1692 tells for the first time the fascinating story of this long overlooked phase of the largest witch hunt in American history.

Untangling a net of rivalries and ties between families and neighbors, the author explains the actions of the accusers, the reactions of the accused, and their ultimate fates. In the process, he shows how the Andover arrests prompted a large segment of the town’s population to openly oppose the entire witch hunt and how their actions played a crucial role in finally bringing the 1692 witchcraft crisis to a close.

Richard Hite is State Records Coordinator at the Rhode Island State Archives and Public Records Administration. He has a B.A. in history and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.A. in Archival Management from North Carolina State University, and an M.A. in history from Kent State University. He is author of An Ordinary Soldier: Christopher Hite of Bedford, Pennsylvania and the Continental Army and Sustainable Genealogy: Separating Fact from Fiction in Family Legends. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.